Amy Rees Anderson

Amy Rees Anderson

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Tonight I came home to find my children had come together to write a blog post for my birthday present – best birthday present in the world! Here it is: To the Woman who Does it All, Happy Birthday! Often our mom dedicates a special blog to each of us on our birthdays, and we …

When I became a parent I never knew I could love another human being so much. I still remember the way I felt when I became pregnant with my second child – I remember wondering how I could ever love another person as much as I loved my first child. But then 23 years ago …

Each of us will have an opportunity to influence an untold number of people during our lifetime. So the question we must ask ourselves is, “When we have opportunities to influence others how are we going to use them? What will we do when we are given a moment in the sun? What impact do …

November 11th is US holiday dedicated to honoring military veterans and celebrating their service. And I believe its also a day we should honor and celebrate the families of the veterans who are as much the heroes as those who serve. I am so grateful to veterans and their families for affording me a great nation of freedom …

WHAT??!! Only 90 days are left in this year?? How is that even possible?! It’s October 1st people – that’s how! I can hardly believe it’s October already. But the good news is it’s October! And October starts off all the fall and winter holidays! First comes Halloween…then Thanksgiving…and then Christmas…Oh how I love all …

Welcome to 2018 everyone! Isn’t it just so exciting?! A brand new year, a clean slate, a fresh chapter…2018 is the beginning of something extraordinary! Hopefully everyone found time to go through their 2018 calendar and block out all the days they want for their vacations etc that I wrote about here, and hopefully everyone …

Some days someone sends you the perfect quote at just the right time in your life when you needed it most, or you come across a poem that applies perfectly to a situation you are going through, or you hear just the right song on the radio at just the right moment for you to …

Myths, old wives tales, superstitions, legends…they are all kinds of fun to read about even if they turn out not to be true. We are 20 weeks in to the 40 weeks it will take to have our very first grandchild come into this world. Since the moment we found out our daughter-in-law was pregnant …

When my 21 year-old daughter wants to get my attention she will utter the phrase, “Your presence is my present.” That quote is a very effective way to remind someone to put away the distractions and focus on the moment you are sharing together. Spending quality time with someone gets harder and harder with all …

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner. You …

Saturday morning I awoke to a phone call alerting me that my son Dalton and his pregnant wife Alexis had been in a car accident on the freeway. Getting that phone call was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. I rushed to the Hospital Emergency Room where I spent the rest of …

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us and for those men out there with a significant other in your life this is your friendly reminder to do something special for that love in your life! Because you do NOT want to be that guy who finds himself at the drug store last minute picking from the …

Remember when we were kids and the thing we hated most in the world was nap time?? Remember trying to negotiate with your parents to get out of it? Repeatedly yelling, “BUT I’M NOT TIRED!!!” Then you hit adulthood and all you can think of is that you really wish those childhood nap days you …

“Sometimes the place you’re used to is not the place where you belong.” That is am amazing quote from the Disney movie Queen of Katwe. If you have not seen this movie yet you have to trust me when I tell you that you have GOT to see it! It is such an inspiring movie …

Listen to the mustn’ts child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts, Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, CHILD. ANYTHING CAN BE. -Shel Silverstein First I have to say that I LOVE Shel Silverstein’s poetry! He teaches so many incredible lessons through his …

Given that this blog is the last one you will read before you celebrate Christmas Day I felt it only appropriate that in today’s blog I should give you your Christmas Gift from me. As I thought through what I could possibly give that would be meaningful to each of you and that could have …

36 years ago today one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time was released. The movie stars one of my favorite actors of all time – Jimmy Stewart, which alone tells you the movie is amazing. The movie is called Mr. Krueger’s Christmas. For me Christmas isn’t Christmas if I don’t watch this movie …

One of the most powerful and touching real-life Christmas stories is the story of the events that took place in December 1914, during World War I. It was Christmas Eve and the German and British troops were out on the battlefield down in the trenches. Then suddenly in the dark of night the British soldiers …

Of all the things I do with my time, one of the things I enjoy the absolute most is the opportunities I have to speak to groups of college students and to pass on to them as much knowledge as I can on all the life lessons I have learned in my journey from being …

Today I learned about an awesome challenge for all of us to “light the world” in 25 ways over 25 days as we lead up to Christmas. It’s a challenge meant to help us focus on incorporating more Christ-like attitudes and behaviors in honor of this Christmas season and over 800,000 people have already joined …

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving Holiday weekend filled with good food and great moments with your loved ones. And hopefully all of you are finding it easier to fit into your jeans today a little easier than I am…truth be told, I may have taken eating leftover pie a bit too far this …

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’” ~William A. Ward There are many ways to say “thank you” to others. One of those ways is to give people compliments. Someone once told me that holding in a compliment that someone else deserves is like buying …

November 11th we honor people who sacrificed of themselves so that a Nation could protect the sacred gift of freedom for its citizens. I stand in awe of the amazing Veterans who so selflessly served, as well as those who continue to serve, for such an important cause. These veterans willingly chose to leave their homes and …

For the last two days I was invited to be part of a special project in which I was introduced to 28 strangers who came from incredibly different backgrounds and who had incredibly different personalities. This particular group of people would likely never have crossed paths with one another in the course of normal life …

If you have done all you can do, giving it your very best effort, and it still doesn’t work out the way you had hoped it would, then you have to trust that it wasn’t in your best interest for it to work out that way. Sometimes when we are excited about something going a …

Late Friday night my husband and I began our drive home from Idaho where we had attended our Aunt’s funeral, back home in Utah. We had intended to get an earlier start home but we had spent the day scanning in all of our Aunt’s photos and papers so the family members could have digital …

Today I want to pay tribute to an amazing woman named Iris who happens to be my Aunt. Aunt Iris would have celebrated her 98th birthday this week, but sadly on Friday we got word that Iris had passed away. On the one hand I am incredibly sad to see Iris pass from this life because she was such a …

First, I want to take the quick opportunity to say “Thank You!” to all those who sent birthday wishes my way. I can’t think of a better birthday gift then words of kindness from others and I received that today in spades 🙂 I also want to share with you an amazing birthday gift I received today …

“If you don’t believe in miracles perhaps you’ve forgotten you are one.” I’m sure there are those who wonder if miracles are real, but I love the quote that says “We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don’t believe …

“To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today.” Oh, how I love that quote. And it is such a great reminder for all of us that have the blessing of being a parent. I remember throughout the growing up years of my children when they would ask me …